From The Russians With Love
by ThoseGreyMalfoyEyes
Summary: He was a dog. Dogs didn't walk and dogs couldn't talk. Dogs had a lead attached to a collar and that collar buzzed them if they misbehaved. His hands, knees and bare feet were raw and bleeding by the time they reached the main floor. None of it mattered. He wasn't getting out of here anytime soon. Lots Of Warnings Inside! Starts Very Dark! Will Become a Crossover Eventually!
1. Chapter 1

So I am now not going to be in the country until February, damn work keeping me busy so I have something new (yes I know again) for you all to chew over. I'm not sure how many of my regular readers are interested in this fandom however, it's one I've been writing for, for years, even if this is my first posting.

This fic might not be for all of you and there are several warnings attached including M/M relationship, Suggestions of Date Rape, Torture and in later chapters Slash. Please give it a go though and let me know what you think!

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From The Russians With Love

Chapter One

 **The British Bulldog Pub - Columbia - South Carolina**

Her breath hitched when she eventually spotted him. He was hung over the bar, nursing a tumbler of what she thought was whiskey. His face was clouded with stubble and she could easily tell, even from a distance that he had lost a copious amount of weight. She gripped the folder in her hands tighter and steeled her resolve, crossing the street and pushing the door open. He didn't look up. She slid into a booth and watched him for a while, the way he gripped his drink until his knuckles were white, his right hand shaking slightly from something she dared not fathom, the way he sucked on a cigarette, holding the smoke in before exhaling slowly, causing it to twist around his features. She started when his dead, brown eyes met hers and he raised a brow in silent question. _You were going to approach me when?_ She sighed and stood up, making her way through the small crowd and dropping onto an empty bar stool at the side of him.

"Nice of you to make an appearance." He muttered, his voice rough and his words slurred slightly from the booze and whatever else he had in his system. "What brought you to seek me out?"

"It's time to go home Timmy." She replied softly, dropping the folder down in front of him. She held her breath as he opened it, his eyes flicking over the reports and growing ever colder with what they saw. She placed her hand on his as he went to flick to the pictures in the back of the file. "You don't have to." She said. "It's not pretty."

"He's my husband." The male growled dangerously. "Try to stop me." She held his eyes for a few seconds, trying to convey the pain that he would endure by turning the page; before letting go of his hand and nodding. He grunted and flicked over to the photographs at the back of the folder. His breath sucked in sharply and his hands started to visibly shake. "Is he dead?" He rasped and she shook her head in the negative, not trusting her voice. He downed the rest of his drink slamming his glass down and earning a pointed look from the barman. He waved the man off and rubbed his forehead, stubbing out his smoke before running his hands down his face. "How?" He asked, only just getting the word out without loosing it.

"We don't know." She replied. "We found him by accident. We had been forced to pull back on our searching and so we weren't actively looking on the county's time. We stumbled across him on a case three days ago and Alexx managed to smuggle him to safety. He was wearing this." She picked out a photo from the file and dropped it in front of the man. It showed a dog collar fitted with a small pack of explosives that would have been fatal to the wearer if detonated. "It took Eric three hours to get it off him without setting it off. He's at home being looked after by Alexx. His fever broke this morning."

"And now you want me to come back?" Speed growled. "After a year with no contact from any of you, and now you bring me pictures of a half dead husband and a plea to come home? How the fuck could any of you let this happen? I gave my life in payment for his protection and now he's on the brink of death because you have all failed."

"We didn't know." Calleigh whispered, tears starting to run down her cheeks. "Horatio didn't tell anyone. We didn't even know you were alive until Alexx lifted a recent picture of you from a body. We found out a month ago and since then we've been pushing the limits on how much searching we could do for your husband."

"Why did you pull back the protection in the first place?" Speed asked, his voice low and dangerous. "Who gave the order Officer Duquesne?"

"Horatio." Calleigh sobbed, jumping when Speed picked up his tumbler and launched it at a wall opposite the bar with a growl.

 **Unknown Warehouse - Miami-Dade - Florida**

His body screamed in pain as he moved and he would have been doing the same if his voice was working properly. He managed a strangled cry that sounded pitiful in the darkness of his cell and his throat protested at the use of his damaged vocal chords. He brought his hand up to his neck as memories flooded his mind and his panic grew when he felt the leather collar. He was theirs. He had been theirs for months. They just wanted to make sure he knew it. There was something big going down. He was a part of it. He just didn't know which part that was. He had lost hope of rescue months ago and convinced himself that he was nothing to those his husband had called a family. He didn't know which betrayal hurt worse. His husband's or his godmother's. Alexx promised she would help. She promised the team would not let him get hurt. She had promised he would be safe. She had promised a lot of things. None of them had come true. The door to his cell opened and the familiar figure of Zed appeared in the door arch.

"Drink." He grunted, tossing a bottle of water to him. He forced himself to crawl towards the bottle, his restraints not allowing him to stand and he undid the cap, meeting Zed's black eyes as he took the water. After a minute the guard grew impatient and stalked towards him. He stiffened, he knew better than to fight by now. Zed grabbed his thinning hair and pulled his head back, snatching the bottle and forcing the water down his throat. He gasped and retched, throwing up bile and stomach acid. Zed laughed, deep and guttural before hitting him around the head and stalking back out of the cell, slamming the door and sliding the deadbolt across, leaving him once more in darkness, laying in a pool of his own filth, too exhausted to care.

 **The British Bulldog Pub - Columbia - South Carolina**

They had been kicked out. Speed sat up against the wall holding the bottom of his t-shirt to his face. He had tried to put up a fight. The only reason they weren't down the station was because of Calleigh's badge. It still hadn't prevented him from ending up with a bloody nose. His breath was rasping and his eyes wild. She was concerned for both his mental and physical state. She couldn't tell if he was high or just drunk.

"You need to keep it together." She whispered, crouching down at the side of him. "We've been doing everything we can and Alexx has been in touch with Quantico. We'll fix this Timmy."

"You've told his brother?" Speed questioned in disbelief, his eyes angry and wide. "You've told Spencer that his baby brother is half dead and you thought that it was a good idea? Do you have any idea what you have done?" Calleigh was startled at his outburst and for the first time ever she was scared of her best friend.

"Alexx spoke to someone named Hotchner." She replied, thankful that her voice didn't waver. "He told us he would take it from there. I don't know anything about a brother." Speed cursed and pulled himself up, staggering towards the blonde's hummer and looking back at her expectedly when she didn't immediately unlock the doors. She sighed and flicked her key, standing up and making her way to the driver's side, hoping he wasn't drunk enough to throw up in the car.

 **Unnamed Trailer Park - Miami-Dade - Florida**

He couldn't believe it. The man they had been searching for, for nearly twelve months was sedated and wrapped in a blanket in the back of Alexx's van. The woman in question was sobbing heavily in driver's seat, too out of it to even contemplate driving and too determined to give up the job to someone else. Calleigh had not been much better when she had left for the lab. She had called Horatio to tell him she had been taken ill and that she would drop all of her stuff of in the lab before taking the rest of the day off. He sighed to himself and made his way around to the front of the van. It had been up to him to keep a calm mind and it had been him who had driven the needle into the young man's neck, apologising under his breath every single second he had to restrain the pitiful creature. This was the husband of his dead best friend. _Speed's_ husband.

"Alexx." He said softly, placing his hand on the Doctor's arm. "Alexx we need to get him out of here."

"This is all my fault." She choked out in between sobs. "I was supposed to look after him. I _promised_ him I would keep him safe."

"You need to keep that promise now and get him out of here." Eric replied firmly. I'll follow behind in the hummer but you need to get him somewhere he isn't going to be found." He watched as the doctor seemed to pull herself together and he nodded. "See you back at the lab." He said, closing the door and watching as she started up the engine. He climbed into his hummer and prayed to god that Calleigh knew where they were taking him.


	2. Chapter 2

Lots of warnings for this one folks! Torture, Suggestions of Date Rape, Suggestions of Drug Abuse, Lots of Angst and all that...

Enjoy!

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From The Russians With Love

Chapter Two

 **Unknown Warehouse - Miami-Dade - Florida**

The light assaulted his eyes as he was led into the warehouse on his hands and knees. He was a dog. Dogs didn't walk and dogs couldn't talk. Dogs had a lead attached to a collar and that collar buzzed them if they misbehaved. His hands, knees and bare feet were raw and bleeding by the time they reached the main floor, but the pain barely registered compared to the agony his back was in. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stand even if he wanted to. Months of laying crouched and being forced to crawl had damaged his body beyond comprehension and he questioned whether he would ever be able to stand upright again. Not that it mattered. He wasn't getting out of here anytime soon.

"I see you brought the mutt." Igor laughed as Zed yanked on his lead, pulling collar tighter around his neck. "How is his training coming along?"

"He couldn't bark even if he wanted to." Zed replied with a smug grin, pleased with his work. It had taken six weeks of agonising torture before his vocal chords were permanently damaged from screaming, forever silencing his voice, and a further month before Zed had eventually deemed him 'trained'.

"That doesn't stop him from biting though does it?" Igor replied and the larger of the two males preceded to pull out a human muzzle and head towards him. His eyes went large and he began to scurry backwards in an attempt to escape the cruel device. He felt Zed's arms wrap around him, forcing him to comply and Igor laughed as a metal bit was forced into his mouth before a pair of straps were wrapped around his head forcing it and a solid metal plate in place on the lower half of his face. Just like that he was completely silenced and unable to reach his mouth. He clawed at the plate desperately and the two men laughed as he writhed on the floor in panic. Eventually he blacked out from pain and confusion and his mind fled to the bliss of unconsciousness.

The next time he woke he was back in darkness. The straps were digging in to his cheeks and the metal plate covering his mouth had already cut into his chin, causing blood to ooze down his neck. He restraints were even more restrictive this time and his hands and feet were bound so closely together he couldn't reach the muzzle even if he wanted to. Tears made their way down his cheeks and it wasn't long before he blacked out again, all the while praying for forgiveness for his sins.

 **Unnamed Gas Station - Just outside Miami - Florida**

The drive back to Florida was long and hot. They had been on the road for most of the night and the blonde's eyes had started to droop. He at least had sobered up slightly, much to her relief however, the signs of withdrawl from whatever he had been taking had started to surface. She got the idea that this hadn't been the first time he had gone cold turkey. He seemed to suffer the sweats and the shaking with a silent resignation and managed to ignore his condition with an air of a strange dignity. He didn't say anything and she didn't ask. It was safer for her not to know. They pulled into a rest stop as the sun was starting to rise. They were an hour from the city's borders and she needed caffeine and fuel if she was going to make it back. He had fallen asleep at some point after midnight and she was thankful that he had managed to sleep some of the alcohol off. Two cups of black, gas station coffee and a tank full of fuel later and they were back on the road, Miami's skyline on the horizon.

 **Unnamed Trailer Park - Miami-Dade - Florida**

His job was simple. Plant the gear, don't get caught be at the pick up point on time. He had been with them for just over twelve months now, and he started to get used for the small deliveries the previous 'dog' had been making. He didn't need to be told what had happened to the other dog. He knew. Just like he knew that his fate would be the same. He reached up and pulled at the parcel that had been attached to his collar, sitting back on his legs as he did so. He hid the package in the fourth tire stack from the right before dropping down onto all fours once more and scurrying towards pick up. Months of malnutrition, cramped conditions and tight restraints were the cause of his tiny frame and the way he crawled along the dirt ensured he was too low to the ground to be picked up on CCTV cameras and small enough to squeeze under the wire fences. The muzzle and collar were still in place and had been joined by a set of blinkers and a pair of earpieces that muffled the sounds around him. The sensory deprivation had begun to take it's toll and he knew that it wouldn't be long before he lost his mind. He had six hours until pick up and no time to waste if he wanted to keep his head.

"Alexx!" The sound cut through his earpieces and he started, scurrying under the raising foundations of a trailer. He didn't have time for this. He needed to move. He turned his head as much as he could either way trying to see who had shouted. After a minute he crawled out from under the trailer only to be wrapped in a pair of strong arms and lifted of the ground. He flailed, trying to scratch and kick at his attacker but he found it useless. "Keep still we're trying to help." The voice came again, close to his ear and he doubled his attacks. It wasn't long before he found himself face down in the dirt, the stranger sitting on top of him, working the straps around his neck. Didn't they know he would lose his head?

"You need to keep his head still Eric." A female voice said softly. "Let me get the straps." His head was suddenly in a firm grip and smaller fingers were working at the straps. He whimpered as they were removed, revealing raw, infected skin underneath. Suddenly the weight was gone and he lifted his head up, now free of everything except his ear pieces and collar. He looked up to see the blurry faces of a blonde woman and a dark tanned male and he scurried back under the trailer, cowering from them.

 **Duquesne Residence - Miami-Dade - Florida**

He had insisted that he wasn't going home in the state he was in, so they found themselves in her down-town apartment, a fresh change of clothes purchased from a store around the corner and Eric's shower gel taking a hammering. She had pulled out a fresh toothbrush and razor for him, demanding he make himself presentable before she would touch his hair and twenty minutes later he appeared, bare chested and cleanly shaven in her kitchen. She started slightly at the scars that littered his chest, criss-crossing over previously unmarred skin and her eyes lingered on a bullet wound just above his heart. A bullet wound that had supposedly killed him just over twelve months ago. A tattoo had also appeared on his side, a crown with the initials E.A.L in large script underneath. She knew what those kind of tattoos meant. He had been sold at some point. He belonged to someone.

"Finished staring?" He growled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Your tattoo." She whispered, her eyes never leaving the inked brand.

"I was high." He muttered, stalking towards the kitchen stool she had pulled out and dropping down onto it, his back towards her so that she couldn't read his emotions. He hadn't lied. He _had_ been high when the man who had claimed him inked his mark on his side. He couldn't remember much from that night, or many other nights that had followed. He had suspected he was getting drugged, which was causing the lapses in memory and when he woke up the next morning he was always bleeding and sore. He had moved cities soon after and had been tested. Luckily he had been clean, but the pain of knowing he had been taken was forever there. The evidence painted on his side for all to see.

"Timmy." Calleigh whispered, placing her hand on his shoulder and feeling pain well up in her heart when he stiffened under her touch. "Please talk to me."

"I have nothing I wish to say to you at the moment Calleigh. Please leave the subject alone. I want to see my husband." She nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see it and started to gently shave his hair, her hands running thorough it every few minutes in a bid to make him relax. It didn't work.

 **Unnamed Trailer Park - Miami-Dade - Florida**

"There's something moving over by those tires." Eric said softly to the blonde at his side, unclipping his gun and moving over the waste stacks. They had been called to a trailer park on the outskirts of the city and stacks of tires and garbage littered the area. Horatio had been called to another scene a little over an hour ago which left the pair of them and Alexx to finish up in the park.

"Careful Eric." Calleigh whispered, unholstering her own weapon and following her best friend. They saw heard him before they saw him, scurrying around on all fours, his head bound with what could only be described as torture devices. His back had an unhealthy curve, making it impossible for him to stand upright, and his spine jutted out from underneath his scarred skin. He was dressed in a ripped pair of grey shorts with no shirt or shoes, meaning the lash marks that crossed his back were on full display.

"Alexx!" Eric shouted before silently cursing his own stupidity. The boy, instantly froze and scuffled underneath a trailer, keeping low and turning his head left to right in search for them against the blinkers strapped to his head. Eric heard Calleigh sob and he moved behind the boy's vision, ready to catch him when he made a break for it. It only took him about a minute and Eric had him, holding him steady as he thrashed both wildly and silently. He pushed the boy down onto the floor and sat on him, trying to keep as much weight off him as possible whilst freeing his own hands.

"You need to keep his head still Eric." Calleigh said softly from his side. "Let me get the straps." The Cuban did as he was bid and had to prevent himself from gagging as Calleigh peeled away the cruel restraints, unveiling festering skin. As soon as they were off him Eric moved completely away, allowing the boy to scurry back under the trailer and look up at them with large green eyes. He heard Calleigh gasp at the side of him and he knelt down in front of who he could now see was a man.

"I'm Eric." He said, pointing to himself and watching as the young man's head cocked. His actions were disturbingly dog like and the Cuban could feel nausea and anger well up inside his stomach at what this poor soul had been forced to endure. "What's your name?" He asked softly, trying to keep as calm and quiet as possible.

"Eric." Calleigh whispered from the side of him. He ignored her, trying to keep eye contact with the male and it was only until she called his name again and shook his arm that he turned to look at her. Tears covered her cheeks and her eyes didn't leave the figure in front of them. "I think that's Ryan Wolfe." She whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3, hope you enjoy!

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From The Russians With Love

Chapter Three

 **Wolfe-Speedle Residence - Miami-Dade - Florida**

"Any change?" He asked when Alexx opened the painted door. She shook her head and led him inside the house. It had been two days since they had found Ryan at the crime scene in the trailer park and the ensuing three hour battle Eric had endured to get the damned collar of explosives off the young man was still raw in their minds. They had placed it outside in the back garden and winced when it exploded violently, two hours after it had been removed. "How are you holding up?" He asked, closing the door and and taking off his shoes. She shook her head again and he sighed, wrapping his arms around her as she broke down for what seemed like the hundredth time in two days. She seemed to pull herself together after a few minutes and she drew away, taking mugs out the cupboards and flicking the kettle on in a bid to keep busy.

"Calleigh's going to get Tim tomorrow." She said shakily once her emotions were back under her control. "Then we need to get them both as far out of the state as possible."

"Didn't you phone Quantico yesterday?" Eric asked with a frown. She nodded and sniffed, pouring the two mugs of coffee. She handed one to him and set off towards the lounge, sagging one of the armchairs, exhausted.

"We have three options." She said after a while. "Either one of us flies with them both over there as Timothy will be in no fit state to look after either of them on the trip, or they bring the BAU jet over to pick them up, but that's too risky to really consider."

"What's the third?" Eric asked with a frown.

"We go by road." Alexx replied.

"It will take days."

"I know."

"You're thinking about it."

"Yes."

"Why?" Alexx sighed and placed her mug on the coffee table before leaning back and lifting her legs onto the chair, tucking them underneath her bum.

"We will need ID to get them onto a flight and it is very unlikely that Timothy will have anything that will pass muster at an airport." Eric frowned deeply at this, it was the second time in as many minutes she had alluded to the state his best un-dead friend was going to be in.

"What's going on that you're not telling me Alexx? Why do you think Speed is going to be unfit to travel alone?" The Doctor studied him for a moment before sighing.

"When Timothy was very young, before he joined the academy and before he became a cop, he got into a lot of trouble both in school and out. I know this is going to be very hard for you to hear but I promise you that what I tell you now is the truth as best I know it." Eric nodded and took a gulp of his coffee, suspecting he might be needing something stronger after this conversation. "When his father left the family unit he slipped into a very bad crowd. Drugs, booze, girls, boys and jail time subsequently followed until he lost his mother. That was the wake up call I think he needed and he joined the academy the day after her funeral. You know Timothy better than anyone, when he is going through a mood he goes all out. He lost everything in that deal with Horatio, what state do you think he's going to be in?" Eric sighed, knowing she was right and he felt like cursing at the unfairness of it all. Damn Horatio to the depths of hell for the pain he had put them all through over the last year, Ryan and Speed especially.

"How is Ryan, really?" He asked quietly after a few minutes silence.

"Weak, malnourished, his body is wrecked and his fever is still through the roof." She replied shakily. "I found two earpieces lodged in his ears that have been in there for at least five months and have possibly damaged his hearing permanently, his spine has been twisted so severely he will never walk without aid again, if at all. His joints are weak and out of place, his posture will forever be affected and I fear that even with extensive orthopaedic treatment and rehabilitation he will forever be in pain from his joints. The infection from his multiple wounds are the cause of the fever and he will carry the scars he has for the rest of his life. That is if I can still save it." She had started sobbing throughout the list and Eric moved to wrap his arms around her, placing his mug on the coffee table as he did so. "I can't lose him Eric. If I do, I will have lost both of them."

"That's not going to happen." He replied, rubbing her back as she sobbed into his shoulder. "I know you Alexx. You won't lose him because you will save him. His fever will break and he will pull through. We all will." He could tell she appreciated the words however, they both knew he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince her.

 **Same Location - Miami-Dade - Florida**

He paused as he reached the painted door. His hands shaking and his knees weak. This was it. Forty eight hours ago he had been just another junkie getting high in a bar, drinking to forget. Now he was back. Now he was home. _Home._ The word sounded foreign, even in his head. He had traded his life for his husband's. For _Ryan's._ He shouldn't be here. He should be back in a bar in the middle of some backwater town, under the illusion that his husband was safe. The door opened before he could even muster the courage to turn the handle and Eric's grim face appeared at the threshold. He knew he looked a mess. He was underweight, going through withdrawl, though hiding it well, and both mentally and physically wrung.

"He's upstairs." The Cuban said quietly, stepping back to allow him access to the kitchen. "It's not good Speed." Tim nodded before stepping passed Eric, growling when the male grabbed his arm. Eric reared back as if burnt and pain entered his eyes. His hand fell at the side of him limply and he looked at the floor, unable to meet his friend's eyes. "Welcome back." He muttered before shutting the door behind Calleigh and moving to fill the kettle with water. The blonde was at the Cuban's side in an instant, her hand on his wrist and a calming gaze in her eyes. Speed paid them no heed. They were inconsequential. He headed towards the stairs, not even bothering with his jacket and neither did he glance back at the pair whom had busied themselves with making coffee.

 **Same Location - Miami-Dade - Florida**

He froze as he saw the hummer pull up the drive. He watched from the window as a thin, pale man got out of the passenger side. He made his way to the kitchen and stood, waiting for Speed to open the door. When nothing happened he reached out for the handle himself and pulled it open to reveal the feeble form of his best friend. He could smell booze on the man, despite knowing that Calleigh would not have let him within an inch of a bottle of alcohol and the slight tremors running through Speed's body told a tale of some kind of withdrawl. The man was a mess.

"He's upstairs." He said softly, pulling himself together and stepping back from the door. "It's not good Speed." The man nodded and went to step passed him, Eric however grabbed hold of his jacket sleeve as he passed. He could have stood and cried when he received a primal growl and a dangerous look from the older man and he snatched his hand back, withdrawing into himself and muttering a welcome to the man. He hated the wreck he had become over the last few days and his internal voice was shouting at him to stand his ground instead of cowering like a beat dog. He shut the door and moved over to the kettle, barely noticing the fact that the man had disappeared upstairs. He felt Calleigh's hand on his wrist and she offered him a small, sad smile, moving to take cups out of the cupboard and fill them with instant coffee. "What's he on?" Eric asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know." She replied quietly. "Whatever it was; he's not had any for the last ten to twelve hours. Withdrawl has set in and it should be out of his system soon."

"How is he?" He asked, scared of what answer the blonde might give. He was right to be worried as Calleigh's eyes filled up with tears at the question.

"Broken." She sobbed. He wrapped her in his arms as she cried and once again asked why they were being punished. Surely that's what this was? Punishment for some unknown wrong they had committed.


	4. Chapter 4

**There is now a poll running for this story, on just what Ryan's fate will be. Would you rather me focus on his recovery or would you rather he die, and have me focus on the team's reaction and Tim's recovery? Choice is now yours, until Chapter 6 has been posted!**

 **Regards,**

 **Kiad**

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From The Russians With Love

Chapter Four

 **Unnamed Trailer Park - Miami-Dade - Florida**

Her heart stopped when her eyes landed on the small figure cowering under the trailer. She didn't miss the fact that he was wearing a collar, not to mention the other devices laying by Eric's feet that had obviously been removed from the young man's face. When his green eyes met hers she knew. She knew that her biggest fear had become a reality and tears instantly started to spill from her cheeks. She wasn't sure whether it was her appearance at the scene or Eric's coaxing but the once tall, proud man she had known as Ryan Wolfe crawled forwards, his hands bent underneath him like a primate's and his knees caked in blood and worn down from the way he dragged them along the dirt, not seeming to feel the stones underneath.

"We need to sedate him." Calleigh whispered to her and she nodded, not trusting herself to speak before heading back to the van as quickly as she could. Ryan seemed to become unsure of himself after her departure and it took all of Eric's skills to keeping him from fleeing. She returned quickly, tears burning her eyes and a syringe in her hand. Ryan caught sight of it and bolted, crawling as quickly as he could over the stones in order to get away. Eric was inevitably faster and easily caught the young man in his arms, holding him down and driving the needle home into his neck. It took a minute for the drug to set in but eventually the tortured male settled down and lost the battle with consciousness.

 **BAU Headquarters - Quantico - Virginia**

"I sincerely hope that I am understanding you incorrectly doctor." He half growled down the phone. He knew something had been going off in Miami for a while. Almost a year ago, just after Timothy Speedle's death, Ryan had contacted them explaining his need for space and solitude. It had been hard for the youngest member of their team to have been parted from his brother, however he had understood Ryan's need for space. That had been the last physical or verbal contact any of them had with the young man he had come to call son, and none of them had pushed to get back in touch, knowing that the young boy would have pushed right back and damaged the relationship he had with his old team.

"I wish you were Aaron." Alexx whispered down the handset, her voice wavering as she struggled to control her emotions. "We failed him, _I_ failed him. Now all we can hope for is for him to live through this."

"You say that Calleigh has gone to pick up a package that may help. To what package are you referring Dr Woods?" He asked, going back over the conversation in his head and picking information out, trying to find answers for the hundreds of questions in his head.

"About a month ago, we had a shooting down in the key." She started. "When the body came in; I found a crumpled photograph in the breast pocket of the jacket the victim was wearing." She trailed off and Hotch sighed, knowing that he needed to be gentle with the woman.

"Go on Alexx." He prompted softly. "I am listening."

"It was Speed." She whispered. "In the photo. It was recent and from what Eric could glean from it, it was taken in down town Boston some point around Christmas." Hotch leaned back in his chair, shock travelling through his brain quicker than he could process; and silence reigned in his office, as the implications of what Alexx had said; hit him like a speeding train.

"He is alive?"

"I buried him Aaron." Alexx sobbed, her emotions cracking. "I held Ryan as his husband was pronounced dead."

"Who did the autopsy?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know." The Miami doctor whispered. "I really don't know. We were all a mess just after the shooting, and looking back I can see how much information Horatio didn't actually tell us."

"Horatio has been keeping all of this under wraps." Hotch replied with a growl. He got up and headed over to his window, looking over the Quantico skyline with a sigh. "Ryan asked for space after Timothy's death, and we have given him just that. I know that young man just as well as I know his brother, any attempt to push and he would have just pushed right back at us. I see know that I should have come to you sooner for help. Spencer has been concerned for months that something wasn't right, however Ryan's usual weekly letters have been getting delivered to him right on schedule. I am worried now that Horatio Caine has had a hand in this, forging Ryan's correspondence, knowing that we would have fought to protect him, if we had known he was missing. When can we expect them?"

"Calleigh should be back tomorrow morning." Alexx replied. "Once I have Ryan stabilised he can be moved."

"I can send the jet over." Hotch said instantly. "As soon as we have him on Virginia soil, he is out of Lieutenant Caine's reach."

"I think we need to be as discreet as we can." Alexx responded. "I am all for getting them out of the state as quickly as possible, but if the jet lands in Miami, it will get back to Horatio within hours. I don't know what he is embroiled in, so this needs to be as quiet as we can keep it. The safety of Ryan and Timmy has to be our main concern.

"That is something we can both agree on doctor." Hotch replied with a sigh. "Call me as soon as you know anything and keep me updated on Ryan. I'll handle things this end and anything you need, let me know." He cut the call and growled, sweeping their case files onto the floor from his desk, angrily.

 **Wolfe-Speedle Residence - Miami-Dade - Florida**

She felt as if all she could do was watch, as the people in the house slowly fell apart. Alexx went through the daily motions; getting up, attempting to check on Ryan, receiving an ear full of abuse from Speed, making coffee and drinking it whist staring into nothingness, lunch, dinner, bed and repeat. Eric spent most of his time pacing, muttering to himself whilst casting desperate looks at the stairs. Speed allowed nothing nor no one into the master bedroom where he was sat, watching over his husband. The hours on the clock ticked, punctuated with attempts at small talk or attempts to gain access to what she had labelled 'The Room'. It was killing her nerves. Monday morning was fast approaching and following the conservation with Aaron Hotchner the evening before she knew that they needed to move soon.

"Right that's it." Eric snapped, making both her and Alexx jump. "I've had enough of his bullshit. I'm going up there." She watched as the Cuban stalked up the stairs and moved to wrap her arm around Alexx as the doctor once again dissolved into tears.

"It's going to be fine." She whispered. "Everything is going to get sorted out and Ryan will be moved to the best place for him. We're going to get through this Alexx." The older woman was tucked into her side, her head buried into her shoulder and Calleigh found herself once more in the epicentre of what felt like a huge storm. She heard a thump then raised voices before everything went quiet once more. Alexx looked up from her shoulder towards the stairs and seemingly understood what had happened. She got up from the kitchen table, where they had been sitting and grabbed a syringe and a bottle from her bag, filling the needle before disappearing up the stairs, exhaustion pouring from her movements. Calleigh sighed and moved to put the kettle on, an action that had become familiar the more time she spent in the house. The three males needed to be on the road, first thing in the morning. She just hoped they were able to hold out until then.

 **Same Location - Miami-Dade - Florida**

She was driving on auto pilot towards the house she knew Ryan had shared with his husband. He was wrapped in a blanket in the back of her van and if it wasn't for the fact they had forced him into unconsciousness she would have been at his side rather than in the driver's seat. Eric was following behind her in the hummer and she knew that Calleigh would meet them at the house. She knew that they had to keep his discovery a secret and she knew that she would have to leave him at the house with Calleigh before taking everything from the crime scene back to the lab. They needed this to be quiet, for a few days at least until Timothy was found and she could get them both out of the state. She turned onto Ryan's estate and pulled the van up, outside the two storey house. It had been over a year since she had last set foot inside and she was fearful of what state she would find the quaint, little home.

"Where's Eric?" Calleigh asked when she jumped out of the van.

"Stuck in traffic about half an hour behind me." The doctor replied.

"Do you have a key?" Alexx nodded and grabbed her purse from the passenger seat, pulling out a key she had used three times in the last 12 months. The realisation that she had betrayed and abandoned the young man she had once called a godson hit her like a kick in the stomach and she staggered back from the van, dropping the key before leaning back against the bonnet and sliding onto the floor, despair and guilt washing over her in waves. She barely registered Calleigh's voice as the young blonde knelt down in front of her and gripped her shoulder, attempting to prevent her from going into shock.

"I'm okay." She rasped after a few minutes. "Get the key." Calleigh nodded and picked up the small keyring, pausing when she saw a picture on a small tab; Speed, Ryan and two other men she didn't know; all wearing party hats and grinning at the camera like goons. "Calleigh." Alexx said again and she looked up to meet the doctor's eyes, knowing that time was of the essence. She threw open the doors to the van before rushing to unlock the painted door of the small house and pushing it open. She knelt back down by the side of the older woman and paced a hand on her shoulder.

"We have to get him inside." She said and feeling relief flood her when Alexx's jaw set and the woman nodded. She stood up and held her hand out to the M.E, pulling her to her feet. It was tricky but after several minutes, a few bumps and a close call, the pair of them managed to get the young man settled on the sofa inside the house.

"It's not ideal but until Eric gets here, there's nothing we can do." Alexx said. "I have to get back to the lab, are you going to be okay watching him for half an hour until Eric makes it?" Calleigh nodded and studied the doctor in front of her.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked, unconvinced when Alexx nodded and brushed tears away from her cheeks.

"I have to be." She replied.

* * *

 **As I said above, choice really is yours to make on this one. I am writing this as I go, sort of by the seat of my pants type thing, so I have only a vague idea on where I want to take it. Please let me know what you think through both the comments section and the poll (posted on my profile page) and it could be your idea that makes it into the fic! (With all credit going to you of course)**

 **Peace Out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Only one more chapter to go before the poll closes!**

 **WARNING - This chapter contains pretty heavy language and violence in some points, and the mention of rape! Nothing too graphic, but I thought I'd better warn you...**

 **Please let me know what you think in the comments section!**

 **Kiad**

* * *

From The Russians With Love

Chapter Five

 **BAU Headquarters - Quantico - Virginia**

"What is going on Aaron?" Dave asked quietly, closing the door behind him and taking a seat on the long sofa, opposite his friend's desk.

"I don't know what you mean." The other man replied, not even bothering to look up from his file.

"I think you do." Dave responded, holding his hand up when Hotch went to argue. "Don't give me the; 'everything is fine' speech. I am not blind. Something has happened." He watched as his friend seemed to fight with himself before letting out a big sigh and leaning forwards onto the desk, running his hands over his face.

"I had a phone call from Miami." He said eventually.

"Ryan?" Dave asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Alexx." He replied with a shake of his head.

"Ah yes, how is our friend? I haven't spoken to her in a while."

"You kept in touch after the funeral." Hotch stated, rather than asked, unsurprised at the idea that his friend was in contact with the M.E.

"For a month or two yes. Then everything went quiet, just after Ryan moved there. I figured she was busy with him, and everything else. I wish I had pressed the matter a little harder, it would be good to get back in touch with her."

"Figures." Hotch muttered, somewhat bitterly. He knew he couldn't be angry at the woman after everything she had done for Ryan and his husband, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that Ryan had been abandoned by people who should have been caring for him.

"What's happened Aaron?" Dave asked, sitting forwards on the couch. "Tell me." Hotch sighed again and launched into the story he had been given by the M.E the day before.

"I don't know what to tell Spencer." He whispered, once he had finished. Dave was silent, anger shining in his eyes and worry over Ryan visible in his posture.

"The first thing we have to do is make sure they get here safely." He said, after a while. "After that, everything else should sort itself out. Let me go down with Morgan and a pair of hummers and get them back here. That will leave you to sort out the investigation into Lieutenant Caine and deal with Spencer and details for their arrival. By the sounds of things, it will be a few days before Ryan is ready to be moved, we use that time to get there and to put in place measures to get them back. We can contain this Aaron and we use the investigation into Caine as a way to prevent taking any active cases out of the state."

"When do we tell them?"

"Now. You have been sat on this for long enough, we get everything in place, Spencer told and Derek and I on the road, and then you can phone Alexx with the first bit of good news she has heard for months." Hotch nodded and a determined look settled across his features.

"Would you send Spencer in?"

 **Wolfe-Speedle Residence - Miami-Dade - Florida**

"Can you manage until they get to you?" Aaron's voice asked through the phone and an acceptance spilled out of Alexx's lips quicker than she could comprehend; relief flowing through her and tears starting to fall.

"I'm sorry Aaron." She kept repeating. "Tell Spencer I'm sorry." Eric gently took the phone from her as Calleigh moved to wrap her arms around the doctor. Speed hadn't moved from his husband's side, kicking everyone out of the bedroom and destroying any hope Alexx had for forgiveness with harsh words.

"When can we expect you?" Eric asked quietly, moving through to the kitchen with the phone, away from where Calleigh was still trying to sooth the older woman.

"Agents Derek Morgan and Dave Rossi will be there in three days." Aaron replied. "Will Ryan be fit to move?"

"We hope so." Eric replied. "Speed is with him at the moment, and refuses anyone else entry to their room." There was a moments pause before he asked the question that had been playing on his mind for the last three days. "How is Spencer?"

"He'll be better when his brother is back with him." Hotch replied quietly. "He has a support system around him that will see him through." Eric didn't miss the thinly veiled barb and the guilt that had been building inside him for the last year made itself known with a sharp twist of his gut.

"I'll be coming with them." He replied quietly. "Alexx and Calleigh need to stay here and cover things in the lab, but I can afford to disappear for now. Speed, Ryan and I will meet them in Jacksonville, we are wanting to get them out of the city as soon as we can."

"Understandable. I'll pass the message on." Hotch replied.

"Thank you Aaron." Eric replied quietly. "We know we have failed, and now it has been left to you to pick up the pieces. I want to help them. I need to see them safe."

"I know Mr Delko. We all want to see them safe. You will all be welcome here with us, Caine's crimes will be brought to bare soon, and we can offer you all refuge from the fallout that is inevitably going to happen. Our main priority right now is making sure that Ryan and Tim are safe. Everything else can be overcome later. I have to go. Tell Alexx that this isn't her fault. You would all do well to remember that." Eric looked at the phone dumbly as the phone call was brought to an end. He knew that they had all failed the pair and Aaron's words soothed some of the guilt that had been slowly destroying his insides. He looked back to the living room and saw Alexx finally calming in Calleigh's arms. His jaw set and determination filled him, stronger than he had ever felt it. They would be alright. They had to be.

 **Same Location - Miami-Dade - Florida**

The silence cloaked him, filling every available space and charging the room with heat. It was a silence of his own making and it already felt deafening. Not even Ryan's broken body produced enough sound to break it. He could see the man's chest rise and fall steadily though, the only clue to the fact that his husband was still alive. His husband. His _rock_. There had been a time in his life where he was almost beyond redemption. Meeting a young, green eyed and energetic young man at the academy had been the first step to reclaiming his life. His sobriety. Now that life was lying in tatters. He wouldn't be strong enough this time. He didn't have the energy. Ryan had saved him when he needed saving and it disgusted him that he didn't have the strength to repay that. He looked up sharply when a knock at the door broke through the silence like gunfire.

"Speed?" It was Eric. Damn bastard hadn't left him alone since he had kicked Alexx out of the room. The Cuban had tried anger, guilt and pleading to allow the doctor to check on his husband but had not succeeded in moving him on his position. He needed to guard his husband with his life, and that was what they would have to take in order to get anywhere near his Ryan. "Tim let me in." Eric called again. "I have to talk to you about moving you both out of the state." Speed growled but otherwise gave no indication of having heard the Cuban. He heard a key turn in the bedroom lock and snarled, standing up and moving to guard his husband from the threat that used to be his best friend. He pulled his knife out of his boot and stood, ready to defend himself from the bastard that dared to disturb him.

"Get out." He spat when the Cuban appeared in the doorway, pain and fear brushing over his face when he caught sight of the blade. "Fuck off and leave us alone." Eric almost backed out, but a grim determination settled on his face and he opened the door fully, holding his hands up to show he was unarmed and stepped towards Speed. "Come any closer and this knife will bury itself in your chest." He snarled angrily, holding the blade up.

"Go ahead." Eric replied, not even hesitating on his advancement. "I deserve it. I abandoned your husband and then failed to find him before he was seriously injured. I abandoned you, believing you were dead and then ignored the clues I found, pointing to you still being alive. I betrayed you both. I deserve to die." Speed growled as the Cuban got ever closer. "Go on." The Cuban retorted. "Do it." The words ran through his mind. His hand shook as his friend came into reaching distance and with a growl he threw the knife, embedding it in the wall behind Eric's head. All fight left him and he slumped. He would have hit the floor if it hadn't been for Eric's reflexes and he soon found himself staring uncomprehendingly into the Cuban's brown eyes. "You're a mess Speed." He muttered helping the older man into the chair he had been occupying since the previous morning.

"No shit." He replied bitingly.

"Then let us help." Eric replied softly. Reaching up to the bruise Speed had received in the bar fight, two days ago. His friend recoiled from his touch and Eric saw panic rise up in his friend's eyes. "I would never hurt you Tim." He whispered. "I am your friend. Your _brother_. We are partners remember?" It was the wrong thing to say.

"Partners?" The man spat. "Where were you _brother_ when my husband was getting tortured by the animals who call themselves humans?" He shouted. "Where were you when I was getting _raped_ in some back alley in the middle of Boston? Where were you when we _needed_ you. When _I_ needed you? You left me…" Speed choked up, tears stinging his eyes. "You just left me…" Eric was there in an instant, wrapping his arms around his friend as the older man burst into sobs. Whispering in his ear as curses left the male at a rate of knots. "Fucking bastards should have just let me die. Just a fucking whore piece of shit for them to shove their cocks into." Eric felt tears sting his own eyes as the male in his arms became more and more agitated and he feared that he would have to shout for Alexx before he was unable to stem the impeding panic attack. He felt a hand on his shoulder and relief flooded him as Alexx's calm, steady gaze met his. She nodded before plunging a needle into Speed's arm, putting the man out cold in minutes.

* * *

 **Please let me know what you think in the reviews se** **ction!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So here it is, the last chapter before the brown stuff officially hits the whirly thing. After a bit of a tough year this fic has taken a back seat as my focus has been pulled towards my other fics. I shall try to continue to write for this one though, it's just that updates will be few an far between. I have sort of decided Ryan's fate now, however if there is any thing you want to see in this fic, please let me know either through the comments section or through PM's. I shall be leaving the poll open until I post the next chapter, as it shouldn't influence the next one too much if you guys decide on a different fate than the one I have roughly sketched out.**

 **Anyway, as with the last chapter, there is a mention of rape in this one, nothing too graphic though, but please read at your own discretion.**

* * *

From The Russians With Love

Chapter Six

 **BAU Headquarters - Quantico - Virginia**

He sat there in silence, staring uncomprehendingly at his boss and pseudo father figure. Hotch shifted nervously in his seat as he maintained his silence, his brain trying (and failing) to register what he had just heard.

"He's dead." He whispered after a good five minutes of silent contemplation.

"No Spencer." The older man replied softly. "Ryan is not dead. Neither is Timothy."

"How?"

"We don't know the full details yet." The steady answer came back. He started when a hand touched his elbow, only to realise that he had missed Hotch getting up and moving around the desk to him. "Let's get you on the sofa." The dark haired man said. "Before you pass out where you are sat." He nodded; still just going through the motions, and allowed himself to be led to the comfortable couch in the corner. "Spencer look at me." Hotch ordered softly, and he did his best to make eye contact with the man. Hotch placed two fingers under his chin and gently lifted his head until he couldn't help _but_ make eye contact. "Dave and Derek are going to collect Eric, Ryan and Tim. They'll leave this evening and your brother will be back at your side in a matter of days. Alexx has done all she can to stabilize Ryan, but he needs professional care, something he cannot receive safely in Miami. He's going to need us son. He's going to need _you_. So let's be strong for him yes?" He nodded.

"Can I go with them?" He asked in a small voice. "I need to see for myself."

"I wish I could let you." Hotch replied softly. "But, you can do much more here. Timothy is going to need somewhere to sleep, Eric is going to need a place to stay and Ryan's care needs organising. Help me get all of this done, and I promise that the time until he is here, will pass much quicker."

"I've abandoned him." He whispered after a few minutes. His eyes filled with tears and guilt tore at his guts. "I've almost killed him."

"Spencer, this is not your fault." Hotch soothed, fear entering his heart when Spencer turned angry eyes onto him.

"Yes it is." He spat. "I have abandoned my baby brother. I have abandoned the one person who needs me most in this world. I should have been there for him. I should…" The young man broke off as sobs overtook him. He pressed a hand to his mouth and closed his eyes, tears escaping from under them. Hotch wrapped his arm around him and squeezed him close into his side.

"This is not your fault son." He whispered, brushing the doctor's long hair away from his forehead, noting the slight temperature the other man seemed to be running. "None of us could have suspected this, none of us saw the signs. You are not to blame."

"I'm his brother." Spencer replied, moving his hand to his forehead and breathing through his nose to try and calm his tears. "I should have known Hotch."

"And so should we all." The other male replied. "I have watched you both grow up Spencer. I have watched you both fall in love and I have seen you both lose those you have fallen in love with. Whereas you have been here, with the team, where I could make sure you were okay; Ryan hasn't had the support system he has needed. Looking back, it is easy to blame Dr. Woods for most of this, but in reality, she is as much a victim here as Ryan. Lieutenant Caine has been manipulating everything since before Timothy's supposed death. It is him who needs to answer for what has happened."

"But he is my brother." The young man whispered.

"And he is my son." Hotch replied. "As are you. Am I to blame for everything here?"

"No." Spencer gasped, looking back up at Hotch with wide eyes. "Of course you aren't."

"And neither are you Spencer." The other man replied. "All of this is the plot of someone with a severe case of Machiavellianism."

"Are we going to be okay?" The Doctor whispered, sounding every bit his age as he looked down at his lap and scrubbed his eye with his hand.

"We can try to be." Hotch replied. "That is all we _can_ do."

 **Miami-Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

"I am afraid I do not understand what you are telling me." The man growled down the phone. "What do you mean you 'lost' him? Did you finally deliver one too many blows?"

"I mean that he went out on a delivery and failed to show up at pick-up." The heavily accented voice replied.

"Then he is dead." The first man stated, rather than asked. He knew what happened to the pets that failed to show up on time. 'The Collar' was designed for exactly this purpose and heralded back to his days on the bomb squad. He hadn't even hesitated when they had approached him a little over a year ago. A young, inconsequential man's life; for the lives of the rest of his team. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made. He had learnt that the hard way.

"Do not play dumb with me красный. If you have him, we will find out." The voice replied gruffly.

"What makes you think I have anything to do with this?"

"He is one of yours, and if we find that you _do_ have him, we will end the rest of your team, and you along with boss is not happy that this has happened."

"Then I expect we are safe. As I know not of his whereabouts and would tell you if I did. I suggest you start looking for the body. If it gets called in, the questions could get ugly. For both you and the boss."

"We know that красный. That is why you are going to find him for us first."

"I cannot do both my job and yours." The man snapped. "I have work to do. If you haven't found him in the next 36 hours, then I shall get involved. Until then, I suggest you get looking." He put the phone down and glared at the contact name. He knew it was risky, taking the call in the office. It was even more dangerous not to. He sensed that another sacrifice was on the horizon. How problematic.

 **Translation**

 **К** **расный** **\- Red**

 **Wolfe-Speedle Residence - Miami-Dade - Florida**

"Here." Calleigh whispered, pushing a coffee into his hands and practically sitting on his lap as she dropped onto the sofa. He was a mess.

"Thanks." He muttered, taking a swig and wincing at the heat in the back of his throat.

"How are you holding up?" She asked softly, reaching up to rub her thumb over the back of his left hand.

"I don't know." He replied honestly. The last few days had taken it's toll on all of them, but the latest episode was close to pushing him over the edge of what he could handle. He knew that he would never forget the look in his best friend's eyes as Speed threatened him, haunted, betrayed. "He's broken Cal." He whispered, looking up, into her steady green gaze. "The way he looked at me when he threw that knife."

"Do you think he could have done it?" She whispered. "Stabbed you?" He took another gulp of coffee before shaking his head.

"He wouldn't have gotten close enough." He said.

"That wasn't what I asked." The blonde replied.

"I know." There was silence for a few moments as the levity of the situation sunk in. The fact that Speed had smuggled in the knife in the first place had shocked them, the reasoning behind the concealed blade causing even more guilt and pain to rise up in their chests. The angry words the other man had shouted were still ringing in Eric's ears. The word 'rape' repeating in his head like some sick version of a broken record.

"You'll be on the road tomorrow. Are you going to be able to cope with them both?" Calleigh asked after a few minutes.

"I'm going to have to. They can't go alone, and we can't risk anyone seeing the two agents that are coming for them."

"What have you told Horatio?"

"Nothing. And I won't until we are out of the state. I'll make up something. Family emergency or something. Mari's Birthday is coming up, maybe I can go AWAL off of the back of that…"

"You need something more solid than that Eric." The woman tutted. "What about phoning Rick?"

"Bad idea." Eric growled shaking his head. "We can't let Horatio even catch a breath of what is happening here. I'm sure Agent Hotchner will be able to arrange something. I just need a story for the first three days."

"I'll miss you." Calleigh whispered and he once again made eye contact, before grasping her hand and leaning forwards to plan a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll call every day." He whispered. "I promise." She let out a sob and he put his coffee down in order to wrap his arms around her.

 **Same Location - Miami-Dade - Florida**

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" She asked softly as Eric pulled on his boots by the door. Ryan had been bundled into the back of the Cuban's hummer and was being watched over by Alexx and Speed.

"We have to be." He replied, reaching up and pulling her forwards to kiss her head. "You be careful around Horatio, do you understand me?" He asked. "You can give nothing away about this Calleigh and if things go to shit, get yourself out of there." She nodded shakily, a traitorous tear escaping, she brushed it away angrily and nodded again, firmer this time. She would not let any of them down, she couldn't afford to.

"I'll be okay." She said. "You just get them to Virginia safe and call me when you land."

"You know I will." He knew that she was terrified for him, even more so after the incident with Speed. He had to believe that they were going to make it. If he didn't, then they wouldn't. He needed to be the glue that held the three of them together until they reached the rendezvous point.

"Be careful." The blonde whispered and he watched as more tears slipped down her cheeks. He stood and wrapped his arms around her, feeling sick in his stomach as she started sobbing. He hated this. He hated every damn thing about it, but he knew that to keep them all safe he had to leave.

"I always am Cal." He whispered. "I am so sorry that this has been left to you, but they need someone who Speed is less likely to be able to murder on the way there." She let out a choked laugh, not that there was anything funny about the situation, but, Eric's dark humour had been one of the only things that had been keeping them sane over the last few days. "As soon as it is safe, I'll be calling for you and Alexx to come to us. If we can all get out of the state without a fire fight, I'll be happier about the situation, until then you need to keep your head down, watch out for Horatio and wait for my signal."

"I'll be okay." She whispered again, pulling back from him and wiping her eyes. "I just need to see you all safe."

"We'll be fine. It's only three days." Eric replied. She almost believed him.

* * *

 **What did you think? Please let me know!**


	7. Chapter 7

From The Russians With Love

Chapter Seven

 **Miami-Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

"Morning H." She forced out, cheerfully as she stepped off of the lift and straight into Horatio. "Did you have a good weekend?"

"I did, thank you Calleigh. Are you feeling better?" She smiled at him and nodded.

"Loads thank you." She set off to her lab, attempting to keep a blank look on her face, she had been forced catch herself from throwing up when she had first bumped into him, and she realised, more than ever how difficult the next few days were going to be. She practically ran the last few steps to her lab, slamming the door closed, behind her and leaning heavily onto it, breathing sharply. She brought her hand up to her forehead and closed her eyes, trying to even out her breathing, she had to do this. She had to be strong for the three men currently on their way to Virginia, she couldn't let them get caught. She couldn't.

"Calleigh?" She almost jumped out of her skin as the knock came on the door behind her. "Sweetie it's me, let me in?" She opened the door and dragged a stunned Alexx into her lab before closing the door again and leaning back against it.

"I can't do this." She breathed, her eyes wide and her breathing, heavy. "I thought I could, but I can't stop myself from wanting to throw up every time I see him. I need to do this Alexx but I'm not strong enough."

"Slow down sweetheart." The Doctor said softly, stepping towards the blonde and placing her hands on her shoulders, steadying Calleigh against the door. "You are doing fine. Ryan, Eric and Timmy are on their way and I just need you to hang in there for a couple more days. I want nothing more than to shoot Horatio Caine myself, but we need to give the boys a chance to get over the border. You are strong enough for this Calleigh, you just need to keep breathing for me."

"I can do this." The blonde replied, nodding her head and finally slowing her breathing down. She had felt the panic attack building and had made the dash to her lab before she lost it in the hall. She just needed to keep it together.

"You're not alone sweetheart." Alexx whispered, reaching up to brush her hair away from her face. "If you need me I'm only downstairs, and if you think you can't cope then both of us talk to Rick, pass everything we know on to him and make a break out of the state." Calleigh shook her head with a moan.

"We have to give them a chance to get over the border." She whispered, repeating Alexx's earlier words.

"Yes we do sweetheart. Try to hold it together for me. Just for a couple more days." She nodded, she had got this. She could do it. For their sake.

 **Estero Blvd- Estero Island - Florida**

"He's waking up!" Speed called frantically as Ryan frowned and opened his mouth as if trying to cry out. Tears had already started dripping onto his husband's cheeks and the young man was clenching and unclenching his jaw against the pain that he must have been in.

Eric swore and signalled to the side of the road. It was one in the morning, they weren't likely to see anyone else around at that time. He whipped off his belt and climbed out of the car, jumping into the back and grabbing a case that Alexx had given him for emergencies. "What are you doing?" Speed growled as he pulled out a syringe.

"Sedating him." He replied calmly.

"Like hell you are you bastard!" The other male snarled, reaching to snatch the needle off of Eric. The Cuban was quicker and immediately stuck the needle into the IV bag that was hung on a headrest, above Ryan; emptying it's contents into the fitful young man and watching as his features smoothed back into a peaceful rest. There was a primal growl and he only just managed to drop the needle and shift, as Speed launched himself at him, kicking and punching and shouting profanities. He swore, and for a split second feared for his life as his best friend attacked him in an open act of rage. After he felt Speed's fist hit his nose for the third time, causing blood to start to ooze down his face, he finally started to fight back, rather than just defend himself. He knew that if he didn't do something he would most likely die at the hands of the brown haired man and Ryan would be in the wind.

"Speed stop!" He barked, punching the other man squarely in the jaw, causing him to stagger back a few paces. "I'm trying to help!"

"And some fucking help you are!" Speed screamed. "Fuck!" He shouted, kicking at the hummer's wheels. "You drag me back into this shit show after abandoning me for months and you say you are trying to help? Ryan needed your help and you abandoned him, I needed your help and you abandoned me! I needed you Eric. I needed my best friend to tell me that it was all going to be okay, that you were doing everything you could to help me out of the situation I had been landed in. And you just left me you fucking bastard! You left me there to die, and to be raped and to be beaten." The brown haired man's voice broke at the end and Eric, who already had tears on his cheeks felt like he had been punched in the gut.

"You're right." He whispered. "I did abandon you. And I abandoned Ryan. But Speed… I am… was your best friend. Do you think that I wouldn't have tried to find you if I knew you were still alive? Do you think that I don't want to murder every single sick bastard who dared touch my brother? Do you think that I don't want to help you now? Look around Tim, we're in the middle of nowhere at one in the morning and on the run from Horatio. I don't have the skills or the equipment to deal with whatever pain Ryan is going to be when he wakes up. What would you have me do, have him in agony until we reach the border? Alexx gave me the drugs to keep Ryan under until we can get him into a hospital. I can't allow him to suffer anymore than he already has, and if it means that I have to knock you out as well, you better believe I would fucking do it. Now get in the car so that we can get back on the road."

With that he stalked to the driver's side, hoisting himself back into the seat and using his T-Shirt to clean off as much blood from his face as he could. He heard the back door slam to and he calmly started the hummer, thanking his stars that he had come instead of Calleigh. He set off in silence and it wasn't until he heard Speed's snores that he allowed his emotions to leak through. As the sun came up over the highway he prayed to God that he could get them all to safety. Before Speed snapped and killed him.

 **The Back Seat - Estero Blvd - Florida**

The only thing that registered in his mind was pain. A low moan escaped his throat, or it would have done if he had any vocal chords left. His limbs felt like they were on fire and he realised that he wasn't able to move them into a more comfortable position. It felt like someone had flattened him out and dipped him in plaster of paris. He felt sick. He tried to think back to the last thing he could remember and saw a pair of brown eyes, warm and filled with so much sadness and guilt.

Those eyes were safe. Those eyes were comfort. Those eyes were gone forever. He knew what happened to people who saw him and he was shocked that he still had his head. He concluded that someone had found him and picked him up from the trailer park, and that the pain in his body was just the newest form of torture the bastards had decided to subject him to. He allowed himself to drift back into the darkness, thinking maybe that death wouldn't be so bad. At least the pain would stop.

 **Miami-Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

She had spotted Calleigh getting off the lift and was almost to her before the blonde practically walked into the last person either of them wanted to see. She watched in mounting concern as Calleigh practically sprinted to her lab and then in horror as the blonde started to panic straight in front of her. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around the girl and drag them both out of the lab, towards her car. She wanted nothing more than to be with her boys on the way to Virginia. She wanted nothing more than to be absolved of the guilt she felt in her stomach. She wanted them safe, whole and together.

Horatio had stolen that from them. Ryan would never fully recover from everything he had endured, Tim was almost beyond her saving as well. Whatever had gone on in Boston had scarred the oldest of her boys, and Eric had refused to fill her in on the situation, despite her almost begging him.

'Trust me Alexx.' He had replied to her constant badgering. 'You don't want to know.' His words had struck fear into her heart and Calleigh had cried for hours, as whatever suspicions the blonde had, were very obviously confirmed. She had thought that the things she had been thinking up in her own mind couldn't be any worse than what had actually happened, until Calleigh had confided to her when Eric had gone to bed.

'He has a tag Alexx.' She had whispered. 'Someone branded him.' She hadn't understood at first, until Calleigh started crying. She had heard the word 'rape' choked out between the blonde's sobs and her heart cried out for her family. This had all been her fault, and there was nothing she could now do but wait to see if Ryan's _real_ family could put them all back together.


	8. Chapter 8

From The Russians With Love

Chapter Eight

 **Miami-Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

He could tell something was wrong with her. He started to watch her at scenes, study her face as he asked whether she had yet heard from Eric, stalking her into the morgue, more often than not; where she would grab Alexx and lock the pair of them into the office, away from his eyes and ears. He became obsessed with where she went to lunch, who she spoke to on the phone, how well she kept up with her work load. Annoyingly there didn't seem to be a single thing different to her normal routine, except that everything was too perfect. She was keeping up too well, her soirées with Alexx lasted no longer than her breaks, her innocent green eyes confused as she admitted that she had not heard from Eric, asking whether _he_ had heard anything from her boyfriend. It was infuriating. It was time to change tact.

"Alexx?"

"Yes Horatio. What can I do for you today?" Nothing off there. Same motherly, friendly tone. Large, sad eyes as she looked over their latest victim.

"What have you found so far?" Better to have a reason to be down here than to jump straight in with the interrogation.

"Well I can tell you that our victim didn't die from his gunshot wound. Poor thing was in the late stages of cancer." She turned to the table and brushed the man's hair away from his face. "Bet you didn't even know, did you sugar? Never saw it coming until it was too late."

"So our victim isn't a victim at all."

"Well judging by where he was shot, I would say no. I'll have more after I've found the bullet."

"Keep me posted." He said, turning to leave. Alexx nodded at him and turned back to her work. "One more thing." He said, turning back to her as if remembering something he had forgotten.

"Anything Horatio." She replied.

"Has Eric tried to get in touch with you at all over the last couple of days?" She frowned at him.

"Horatio you know that I would come to you if he had." She responded, sounding almost disappointed. "Have I ever kept anything from you before?"

"I don't know." He replied, looking up at her with questioning eyes. "Have you?" She sighed and snapped off her gloves, leaning against the table.

"Out with it Horatio. You have something to ask, then ask it. I have no mood for your games." He had pushed too hard. Time to make a hasty retreat.

"I only wanted to know if Eric has called." He replied. "I can only hold off Rick for so long and if you or Calleigh are in contact with him, I need to know."

"And just what does Calleigh have to do with this?" She asked, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. "I thought we were talking on my supposed opacity."

"We are Alexx." He replied. "Just, tell him he needs to call me."

"Horatio, we have known each other for a very long time and I have great respect for you. I thought by now you had come to trust that I would never lie to you. If you need me to prove that I haven't been speaking to Eric then I will, but if you ask me to do that, please know that I will struggle to trust you in anything else." With that she put on a fresh pair of gloves and went back to the man on her table. He knew he had pushed way too hard and so he bid her a good afternoon and left as quickly as he could. Something was going on, he just wish he knew what or how to prove it.

 **Highway 17 - Lake George Conservation Area - Florida**

With clarity had come anger. Anger that raged like a sea; whipped up in a hurricane. The first sight of that needle had made him snap. Flashes of what had happened in Boston raged in his mind. The drugs they had given him, the tattoo they had branded him with, the feeling of someone taking him against his will. It was as if the floodgates had opened and he had lashed out at the first person he had seen.

Eric had betrayed him. Eric had abandoned him. Where was his supposed brother when he had been laying in some back alley, half frozen in the snow? Where was his best friend when his husband was getting tortured in some nondescript warehouse? His anger started to burn in his chest and before he knew what he was doing, he was on top of his brother; punching and kicking like a wild animal.

He had vowed, after that first night, that it wouldn't happen again, but that needle sent him back. Spiralling into memories, unable to determine what was real and what was not and without control of what his mind showed him. So it _had_ happened again, and again, and yet the Cuban had taken all of his blows without complaint. He knew that he was on a downward slope with no brakes, he knew that he needed help and he knew that without it, he would end up killing the best friend he had ever had in a fit of anger.

When the needle finally pierced his arm, and darkness overtook his senses, it brought about a numbness in him that he had not experienced since Boston. It was like an old friend he had been missing, and in the drug filled haze of his mind, he was back on the streets where the only thing that determined your standing, was whose brand you wore. He didn't fight it. He didn't have the energy.

 **Miami-Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

Tears slipped down her cheeks, mixing in the toilet pan with the little bile she had thrown up. He had almost broken her. She could feel Calleigh rubbing her back as she retched again and she was more thankful of the blonde's presence than ever. After the first initial wobble Calleigh had been coping remarkably well, more often than not having to hold her up when she got into states like this. They had both been stopping at Calleigh's apartment, waiting for any scrap of news from the boys to come through and Eric, true to his work had phoned the last two nights and two mornings to give them an update and to reassure them that everything was going okay. She had not missed the exhaustion in the Cuban's voice though, and she wondered how much coffee had been consuming just to keep going.

"Breathe Alexx." Calleigh muttered, rubbing her back harder and pulling her hair away from her face. She concentrated on her breathing and slowly started to calm, fuelled by soft words from the blonde.

"I can't do this." She sobbed. "He suspects."

"He suspects. He doesn't know." Calleigh responded. "You're doing fine."

"How could he do this to us? How could we have let this happen?" She felt arms slip around her waist and fell boneless into the younger woman's embrace. The talk with the redhead had shaken her up badly, and coupled with the exhaustion of the last week she didn't know how much more she could take. They needed to get out of here and fast. She hoped to God that Eric had a plan because as of right now neither her nor Calleigh felt like much use.

 **Same Location - Florida**

She began to fret as the Doctor in her arms seemed to sob harder and harder and for what felt like the umpteen time in the past week she cursed her boss to the darkest pits of hell for what he was doing to this team. If Alexx broke she knew that they were done for. She could not allow that to happen. She picked the M.E. off the tiled floor of the toilets and dragged her over to the sinks.

"What do you see?" She asked, turning the Doctor's face towards the mirror. When all she got in response was a blank, confused stare she sighed and turned Alexx around to face her. "Do you know what I see? I see Ryan's best chance at survival. I see the person who has done nothing but care for us since we joined this team. I see the woman who is the glue that holds this family together, and this family needs you right now Alexx. We can't get through this without you. Is Horatio a lying bastard who deserves nothing but death? Yes. Can we do anything about it right now? No. But what we can do is ensure that the boys get to Virginia safely. Be our glue for another 24 hours Alexx. Then we can fall apart and get out of this damn mad house. 24 hours, then you can cry as much as you want to. But, right now we need you. I need you. You break now and we might as well shoot all of ourselves in the head." The Doctor looked as though she had been slapped and Calleigh stepped back, feeling rather satisfied when determination re-entered the eyes of the doctor. Eyes which were the symbol of safety, for all of them. "Now clean up, before Horatio begins to get even more paranoid.


	9. Chapter 9

From The Russians With Love

Chapter Nine

 **Greasy Spoon - Outskirts of Jacksonville**

"Do you think they'll make it?" Derek asked, quietly. He looked guilty for even asking the question, saying that, they'd all felt enormous amounts of guilt over what had happened to the young man they all knew and loved, it was hard to tell just what they felt more guilty of recently.

"I think we have to trust Alexx's assurances." Dave replied quietly. They had been sat in the greasy spoon for almost two hours, drinking coffee and waiting for Eric's hummer to pull up. Alexx had texted them the details of the car, the license plate number and the colour, and told them, that the three men had made good time across the various states they had travelled. "They'll be here Morgan."

"Trust." The younger man spat bitterly; turning to gaze out of the window. "It was trust that led us here. It was trust that allowed Ryan to be subjected to what he has. Rossi I don't think I can trust anyone but us right now. I don't know if I can trust the bastard bringing them here with their safety."

"I know this is hard." Dave reached across the table to put a steadying hand on Morgan's shoulder. "I know that it is easier to blame them for what has happened. However, in reality I think the only person we can blame here is Horatio Caine."

"Yeah and who's to say that this Delko guy isn't working with him?"

"Because Eric is currently driving across the U.S, running from said Lieutenant, with Ryan and Timothy in the back of his hummer. He has placed his job, family and even his life, on the line to return them to us. That has to earn him a chance Morgan."

"And what if I don't want to give him one?" The younger man asked, meeting his eyes with a serious gaze.

"Then you do what we have always done. You profile him. You profile him and then decide whether he is a danger or not, but whatever you decide to do then you better do it quickly." He nodded towards the window where they could see a silver hummer pulling into the front lot. "They're here."

 **Highway 17 - Lake George Conservation Area - Florida**

He was starting to get sick of this. Nothing Speed could shout at him, made him feel any worse than he already did, and the constant fighting every time a syringe of drugs was pulled out was starting to take it's toll. He hadn't even bothered to change from the first night, knowing that he would just end up ruining another shirt. He felt Speed's fist enter his gut and seized the opportunity, emptying the syringe into his best friend's arm. Having felt the needle, the older man staggered back with wide, betrayed eyes, that after a few seconds started to roll. Eric managed to catch him before he hit the floor and he dragged the man, who was well on his way to unconsciousness, into the back of the hummer, sitting him up and strapping him in at the side of Ryan's mangled body. Speed's eyes finally closed and he sagged onto the side of the hummer in relief, before making a dash to the trees, which lined the road and throwing up everything he had eaten in the last 24 hours.

He'd had to drug his best friend. He'd had to drug Speed. He couldn't do this. He _had_ to do this. He had no choice.

They were going to die.

 **Greasy Spoon - Outskirts of Jacksonville**

All thoughts of anger fled from his mind as he watched the exhausted and bloodied Cuban male climb from the car. Eric staggered towards them, clearly dead on his feet, and Morgan's plot to give the man hell vanished quicker than finger rolls at a buffet. Eric clearly hadn't seen them or recognised them as he approached the counter and ordered two large cups of black coffee. He could see the surprise and concern flicker over Dave's face and he knew that he had to do something.

"Officer Delko?" He asked quietly, getting up from his seat and approaching the man. Eric was instantly on guard and eyed him suspiciously as he approached.

"Depends on who's asking." The man replied.

"My name is Derek Morgan, and this is David Rossi, we're here to escort you the rest of the way into Virginia." Eric seemed to sag in relief and he reached forwards to catch the Cuban's elbow, leading him to the table as Dave moved to pick up the drinks. "Are Ryan and Tim safe?" He asked, getting the hard question out of the way. Eric nodded, picking up one of the coffee mugs and downing it in one go.

"Sorry." He apologised, placing the mug on the table and picking up the second. "It's been a long drive. They're both in the back of the hummer, still asleep. I had to give Speed something to knock him out last night and it hasn't worn off yet."

"Is that how you got your bruises?" Dave asked, nodding at the Cuban's battered face and bloody shirt. Eric looked down, as if surprised to see that the blood was still there before looking back up at them and shaking his head. "Not for trying to drug Speed." He whispered. "Alexx gave me a box of sedatives to keep Ryan out until we got him to a hospital. Speed had other ideas."

"Tim did that to you?" Morgan asked sharply.

"A couple of times." Eric replied with a wry smile that resembled more of a grimace. "I don't want to stop here for long." He said, turning back to Rossi. "We need to keep moving."

"You're not going anywhere in that state." Dave replied. "Get changed, have another coffee and you can ride with me. Morgan will jump in with Ryan and Timothy until we get to the hotel."

"No." Eric responded, causing them both to look at him in shock. "I drive. Speed is likely to attack anyone in who is in that hummer when he wakes up. I put him out rather aggressively last night."

"All the more reason for you not to be there when he wakes up then." Dave replied, trying to hide his feelings at the way Tim had obviously treated the young man in front of them. Morgan didn't know what to think. Here was someone who he was certain he would hate, sitting across from him, having driven miles, and to the point of collapse, all whilst having to defend himself at what sounded like the caged lion Timothy Speedle had turned into.

"Can Ryan be moved?" He asked, surprising himself. Eric nodded with a frown.

"What are you thinking?" Dave asked.

"If we can get Ryan into the other car, then I'll ride with you and Tim, and Dave can take Ryan separately. If Tim is going to be in a mood when he wakes up, the least we can do is make sure that Ryan isn't further harmed in the process. So I suggest ordering another coffee to go Eric and helping me move Ry into the other car."

"Sounds like a plan." Dave responded, standing up and pulling the Cuban up with him. Eric looked spaced out and probably would have agreed to anything at that point. Morgan had to believe that they would all get through this. The alternative was incomprehensible.

 **Miami-Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

She looked up sharply as the door to her morgue was thrown open with enough force to rattle her office windows. Panic rose instantly in her chest as Calleigh stood in the middle of the room, hair plastered to her face and her breath coming in sharp gasps.

"They've made it." The blonde struggled out, between her heavy breathing. "Dave and Derek have them." Alexx almost collapsed in relief, using the edge of her desk to steady herself. She knew that Calleigh would have no idea what those names meant, or who they belonged to however, it was the best news she could have hoped for. Hotch and Spencer weren't with them. They could get Ryan to a hospital before his brother went anywhere near him. Eric was safe. Tim was safe. Ryan was safe.

"We're not safe here anymore." She whispered, meeting Calleigh's gaze and feeling a surge of strength enter her stomach. "We need to go."

"I've already emptied my locker but we need to go _now_ Alexx." She nodded and grabbed her bag, knowing there was nothing in her office or locker worth risking her life to take. She reached for the young woman's hand and they practically ran through the back doors of her morgue, where Calleigh's car was already waiting on them.

Along with Horatio Caine.


	10. Chapter 10

**So I was going through a few of the previous chapters and realised that my location tags were waaay off where I wanted them to be. Revisions have now been made for those chapters for better clarification on what is happening where, if you want to re-read them then feel free but if not it won't make much of a difference, you just may get confused on the scene settings.**

 **These next few chapters have taken me longer to proof read than I would have liked but it can't be helped. Please enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! Thanks for reading, Kiad**

* * *

From the Russians With Love

Chapter 10

 **Miami-Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

The continued failed attempts against his team were visibly starting to affect the man he had grown to call his boss. It wasn't _his_ fault they were all so stupid. If they couldn't see him for what he was then he was inevitably going to become what they _did_ see him as. He watched as Calleigh ended her phone call and sprint towards the locker rooms. He all but ran to his office and pulled up the camera feeds, swearing when he caught sight of her emptying her locker. He couldn't be having that now could he?

"Where are you going?" He muttered watching her run out to the parking lot and jump in her car. He could have laughed at her foolishness when she decided to go back for Alexx and he made his way downstairs to the back door of the morgue, unholstering his glock and waiting for the pair of them to appear. He sent a quick text off to his boss and smirked to himself when he received a positive reply. He should have know that they had been covering the lab. It was obvious really. It was time for them to be reminded who it was protecting them from the world, and as they both burst of of the morgue doors he trained his on who he suspected was the ringleader of their great escape. "Going somewhere ladies?"

 **Route 95 - Outskirts of Orlando - Florida**

The pain in her thigh; dulled to an ache by the drugs she had pumped into her own system; spiked as Calleigh hit a pot hole, not letting up on the gas but instead muttering an apology and increasing their speed. She pulled away the pad from her skin, sighing in relief that the blood had started to clot around the wound, only oozing slightly, instead of gushing claret as it had been doing three hours before. Debilitating as it was going to be, it was minor compared to the injuries they had left behind. The image of a young uniform, losing the top of his head and most of his brains was one she would have nightmares about for the rest of her life. Calleigh had not fared much better, she'd had to pull herself out from under three bodies before she got crushed by their weight, and Alexx thanked the stars, the moon and whatever deity came to mind, that Frank had been there to help the blonde free.

The silence dragged on, punctuated by only her sharp gasps and Calleigh's muttered apologies every time her injury was jolted or jarred. They had been promised protection once they reached the same greasy spoon Eric, Tim and Ryan had been picked up from and she could only hope that they made better time than the three boys had done. With Calleigh at the wheel for the entire journey and all patrol units in the state on stand by, she was confident that they would make it in the 5 hours hours it would usually take rather than the three days it had taken Eric to pick through Orlando, then Tampa and through to Jacksonville. She wasn't sure how long it was going to be until the shock started to set into the blonde.

"I can't stop thinking about it." The young woman whispered, breaking through the quiet. "I can't stop seeing his face." She didn't need to ask whose face was haunting the young woman. It was the same face she kept seeing, the cold blue eyes triumphant at the chaos. The kind features twisted into something out of a horror movie.

"I know sweetheart." She whispered back, feeling the blood loss, the drugs and the events of the past week catch up on her. "We will be okay. He won't find us where we're going." And with that she felt herself slip into unconsciousness.

 **Route 95 - Florida/Georgia Border**

"Is everything alright?" Eric asked quietly as he closed his phone. He sighed and glanced in the rear-view mirror to ensure that Speed was still out as the last thing either of them needed was him overhearing the next conversation.

"Alexx and an Officer named Duquesne were caught in a shoot out behind the Crime Lab in Miami." Morgan started, wincing at Eric's sucked in breath of shock. "They were apparently trying to flee the wrath of one Horatio Caine when a gang of Russian shooters opened fire. Duquesne is fine however, Alexx was hit in the leg with a bullet. They're on the way to meet two of our agents in Jacksonville. Now that Caine knows they, at least are on the run, it is less risky for them to bring the jet down. Lieutenant Stetler believes that the safest option is for us to continue by road, making Quantico a couple of hours after them."

"Will Alexx be alright?" Eric asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"She was awake and is currently on the road with Duquesne, however we cannot be certain to the extent of her injuries. A Sergeant Tripp is set to make contact with them in half an hour."

"We have to go back." Eric said, panic starting to set in. "We have to meet them in Jacksonville." Morgan felt anger tighten in his chest and clenched his hands on the wheel.

"Haven't you put Ryan through enough?" He hissed back venomously, making Eric flinch with the harshness of his words. "Every hour we lose is a greater risk of him not making it. We are not going back, we have no reason to. Emily and Jennifer are quite capable of meeting them on their own. Our first priority is, and always will be Ryan." Eric fell back into silence after that, taking to stare out of the window finally dropping to sleep an hour later. He knew that the words he had used were harsh, but the fury he felt, at the way Ryan had been treated by these people was clouding his other emotions and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he would have the same harsh words with whoever this Duquesne guy was.

 **Miami - Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

"Going somewhere ladies?" He asked calmly, his glock held completely steady, aimed between Alexx's eyes. "You know, I have tried and tried again to keep you safe. From the Russians, from the media, from yourselves."

"Horatio." Calleigh started, shutting up when he turned his gun on her instead.

"I'm speaking!" He snapped, his hand wavering ever so slightly and his voice dripping with venom. "When I'm speaking you shut up and listen! Always so ungrateful. Never thanking me, never even acknowledging the fact that I do what I do to keep you alive."

"By giving up Ryan to the Russians?" Alexx whispered, not even flinching this time when his gun turned back to her. She let go of Calleigh's hand and started towards him slowly, never gracing his gun with her gaze but instead, keeping her eyes locked onto his.

He had to do this. His life was forfeit if he even thought about letting either of them go. His eyes flicked to Calleigh, his beautiful bullet girl, his first CSI. Her eyes were shut tight, tears leaking from underneath them and she seemed to be muttering the same few lines under her breath.

"Seriously?" He spat angrily, making her flinch. "Praying never worked for me so don't even begin to think, that it will make any difference to what I'm about to do to you."

"And what is that?" Alexx asked, dragging his attention back to her. "Are you going to shoot us Horatio? Are you going to pull the trigger and spill our blood? How far do you think you would get before Rick or Frank find you? How long do you think you could run before you couldn't go any further?"

"You don't know what I'm capable of." He growled.

"Yes I do Horatio." Alexx replied, trying with all her might to keep his attention on her. He had lost it, she decided. He had gone mad with whatever he'd been involved in. His left eye had a visible nervous tick and his hands had started to shake. "I know exactly what you are capable of." She continued quietly. "You are capable of love, and of mercy, and of honour. You are capable of justice and of friendship. You don't have to do this H. Let us walk away. Let us get in that car and drive away. You need never see us again."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with." He hissed. "You will get yourselves killed."

"Better it be by the Russians, than by a _friend_." She replied. "Put the gun down Horatio. Put the gun down and let us go." He started to lower his hands when a shout and a shot rang across the parking lot; and then everything went to hell in a hand-basket.


	11. Chapter 11

**Please let me know what you think! Thanks, Kiad.**

* * *

From The Russians With Love

Chapter 11

 **Miami - Dade Crime Lab - Florida**

"Please Rick, please come find us. Please Frank help us. Please God save us." Over and over she whispered the same three sentences, despite Horatio's scoff at her apparent prayer. Alexx was trying to talk him down and it seemed to be working, and though her eyes were closed; she could hear the resignation and acceptance start to enter his voice. The gunshot came from nowhere and for a second she felt as if it was her who had been shot, but when she opened her eyes the image seemed to play out in slow motion.

She watched Alexx fall to the ground, blood pouring out from her upper thigh and she felt her stomach drop and her skin go cold. She knew what wounds within that area meant. They had worked enough cases where the victim's femoral artery had been nicked by a bullet. Horatio's revolver was trained on her now and she felt frozen in place. The shot hadn't come from him but she knew that he was the cause for it. The grin that now overtook his features was more than a little deranged and she knew they were both dead. She locked her gaze onto Alexx, seeing the woman, staring at Horatio through glassy eyes and she knew they were both done for.

"Stop! Horatio stop this now!" The voice of Frank Tripp had her almost sob in relief, and as he rounded the corner with almost two dozen uniforms and Rick Stetler in tow; she began to feel hope. Before that hope could take hold, more shots began to ring out and she dropped to the ground, crawling her way towards Alexx who was still awake and trying to tell her something. The older woman's words were lost in the deafening sound of bullets and as she felt a heavy weight land on top of her she cursed her own stupidity. She felt herself begin to panic as she felt two more bodies start to bury her and as soon as she saw the blood on her clothes she started screaming. She fought her way out from under the weight, relief flooding her veins, when Frank appeared to help her, and as soon as she could get near Alexx she almost threw the woman into the car, that was still idling in front of the morgue doors.

"You have to go Duquesne now!" Stetler shouted when she hesitated to get into the car. "Go, get her out of here!" Sobbing; she climbed into the car, having to climb over Alexx in the process and she took off out of the parking lot, peeling away from the scene in a hail of bullets and blood.

 **Route 95 - Pompano Beach - Florida**

They had been on the road barely an hour when her ringing phone caused her to jump out of her skin. Her nerves were frayed, Alexx was still bleeding; despite having completed a basic trauma routine on the wound and the smell of blood from her own clothes was overpowering. She picked up the phone.

"Calleigh?" She cried at hearing Frank's voice and she pulled off to the side of the freeway, flicking on her hazard lights and bursting into full out sobs. He was alive. He was okay. "Calleigh you have to listen to me." Frank demanded down the phone, ignoring her sobs in favour of conveying his next point. "Horatio has fled, neither Stetler nor I were hurt and he's been on the phone to Quantico. Two agents by the name of Prentiss and Jareau will meet you in Jacksonville. They said something about a rest stop where Eric was. Rick is on the phone to the govener and all cars in the state have been ordered not to stop you. Calleigh you need to be careful. We don't know where H is and we have no way to track him apart from his cell. Get out of Florida as soon as you can and straight to Jacksonville. I need to speak to Alexx now, as soon as you have handed the phone over, set off driving again." Calleigh nodded, even though she knew Frank wouldn't be able to see and passed the phone to Alexx.

"Frank?" She slurred, the cocktail of drugs she had pushed into her own system making her drowsy. Calleigh ignored the rest of the conversation, pulling back onto the road and putting her foot flat, onto the floor; racing along the suspiciously empty freeway. "Don't stop." Alexx said when she ended the call. "Not for me, not for blue lights, not for anything."

"You need medical attention." She argued.

"I'll be fine once the second lot of Celox has started to work." She groused back, lifting the edge of the pad she had been holding to, checking the clotting of the wound. "If I'd have not have had to dig the bullet out I'd have been better."

"Has it hit something?" Calleigh asked worriedly, all to aware of the complications of bone fragments.

"I don't know." The doctor replied. "I have too many drugs in my system to tell." An uncomfortable and worried silence fell over them and stretched on for several minutes. "Don't stop Calleigh. Promise me you won't." Calleigh risked a look at the older woman before turning back to the road and setting her jaw firm.

"Okay. We'll do it your way. But as soon as we get to Virginia you need a hospital."

 **Route 95 - Georgia**

He had been granted an hour after Eric fell asleep before Speed showed signs of starting to stir. He clenched his jaw and gripped the wheel again, prepared to face whatever Tim had got in store for them. After a few minutes a pair of confused and glassy brown eyes were staring at him through the rear-view mirror. It was the first chance he'd been given to see properly, just what state his friend was in and the first thing that came to mind was how much weight Tim had lost.

"Derek?" He mumbled, obviously confused. "What happened? Where's Ryan?" Derek took a breath to compose himself before answering as calmly and as clearly as he could.

"In the hummer behind us with Dave. You've been out for a good while Tim, we left Jacksonville a couple of hours ago."

"Why isn't he with us?" Speed growled, his eyes narrowing. "What have you done to him?"

"We haven't done anything to him." He replied honestly. "We just considered the fact that there is five of us and two hummers. We needed the space of the back seat for Ry."

"So why is _he_ here?" Speed spat angrily, stirring Eric in the process. "Why is he here and Ryan not?"

"Would you have wanted us to move you in your sleep?" Derek threw back without missing a beat, silencing Eric with a look when the Cuban went to speak. Tim crossed his arms and spat out a petulant 'no' as he turned towards the window. "Then stop complaining. Ry is right behind us in the care of Dave and we will have to break in a couple of hours for gas anyway."

"He drugged me." Speed muttered angrily.

"You were hitting him." Derek replied back, deciding that the best thing to do was to talk to his friend as if the other male wasn't in the car. Admittedly it was rude, but in that moment he couldn't really have given a shit to the Cuban's feelings. "I would have knocked you out with a punch rather than drugs; had it been me, but Eric obviously didn't want to mess your face up."

"He was drugging Ryan."

"And that was damn smart of him too. Ry is going to be in a whole world of pain when he wakes up. The last thing any of us need is for that to happen on the road, him included. Keeping him sedated is the best thing we can do for him right now."

"I bet he just wanted to rape him." Speed muttered darkly. "That's all drugs are good for, keeping someone compliant." Morgan didn't quite know how to respond to that and by the tell tale signs of tears appearing in Eric's eyes; neither did he.

"You don't really believe that do you?" Derek asked quietly.

"Why shouldn't I?" Came the bitter answer. "He never helped me when I was the one getting drugged and pounded every night. Why should he feel any different towards Ryan? Maybe he gets off on it." At that Eric let out a strangled sound and turned towards the window, his shoulders visibly shaking as he tried to keep it together. Derek caught a look of triumph on Speed's face and knew that this was just his hurtful form of revenge. He felt a pang of guilt in his stomach, followed by a wave of sympathy for the Cuban who had driven the length and breadth of a state in three days to keep the couple safe and who had taken a lot of shit for it from Speed.

"That wasn't necessary Tim." He said coldly, meeting Speed's eyes in the rear-view mirror and sending him a glare. The man in question shrugged and turned back to look out of the window. It was going to be a long seven hours.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter notes at the end, there are multiple warnings for this chapter again. I' afraid that all of the chapters from here on out will have similar warnings for them. Thanks for still sticking with this fic, I know its kina dark, Kiad**

* * *

From the Russians With Love

Chapter 12

 **Greasy Spoon - Outskirts of Jacksonville**

"Oh my god Alexx!" Emily gasped, when she saw the blood dried to the leg of her pants. She rushed to help Calleigh get her inside their hummer before pulling the pad away from her wound, wincing when she disturbed the clot, causing Alexx to hiss.

"What the hell happened?" JJ demanded, steadying Calleigh who looked ready to pass out.

"The Russians opened fire onto a parking lot full of officers." Alexx replied through ragged breaths. It was obvious that infection had already started to set in. She felt hot, dizzy and sick and she knew that she had little time to convey the information she needed to before she passed out again. "Horatio has lost it." She struggled out, trying to keep her eyes open and hissing every time Emily disturbed something as she checked at her wound. "I was shot. I had to dig the bullet out. I think it hit something. Shit Emily!" She gasped as the dark haired woman pulled the pad clean away.

"I'm sorry but I need to clean it." She replied. "You know that the infection will spread if I don't do something."

"My bag, Calleigh. In my bag, amoxicillin and a syringe. Emily, listen to me." Everything was spinning now and she knew that she wouldn't last much longer. "It needs to go straight into the infected area. Clean a spot for it to into first. I'm going to pass out in a minute so I need you to do it." Emily looked like a deer in headlights but nodded anyway, just in time for Alexx's eyes to roll and for unconsciousness to take her from them as the infection and blood loss took it's toll.

 **Route 95 - Georgia**

The silence in the hummer was only broken by the rattling breaths of the almost corpse, spread across his back seats. Ryan looked like death. Ryan looked _worse_ than death. The young boy he had grown to love, the young man who was so full of life and energy, much like his brother; had been reduced to a mere skeleton. His skin was pulled painfully thin over his bones, his eyes were red and leaking a yellowish discharge and surrounded by dark circles, and his ears looked painfully hot from where Eric had explained, Alexx had pulled a pair of earpieces from. There didn't seem to be an inch of him that looked healthy, from the unnatural angles his fingers were curled in to, to the whip marks along his back, emphasising his curved spine and his lack of weight. He was a mess. His rattled breaths were fraying Dave's nerves but at the same time he feared putting music on in case Ryan died in his back seat without him hearing.

They had only been on the road three hours when Morgan's hummer signalled to pull onto the side of the freeway. He pulled up behind to see Derek jump out and lead a distraught looking Eric over to his passenger side.

"Eric's staying with you for the rest of the journey." He said softly, ignoring the shouts and protestations coming from his rear window, which Speed had managed to roll down. Eric climbed in to his passenger seat without argument and Dave was afraid he would have a hysterical Cuban on his hands in a matter of minutes.

"I told you he'll try to rape my husband!" Speed shouted from the car, causing him to look up at Derek in shock before glancing at Eric who was becoming more upset by the minute.

"Time to go." He said shortly, nodding at Morgan who shut the door on Eric. "We'll lead this time." He called through his window as he set off, not wanting to stick around to hear any more of Speed's insane accusations.

 **Greasy Spoon - Outskirts of Jacksonville**

Rather than take the route Eric had followed the last week, weaving through the towns and cities in an attempt to throw off any trail, it was non-stop, up through the east coast and straight into Jacksonville for Calleigh and Alexx. The later of whom had passed out during the second hour of the journey, only to regain semi-conciousness during the forth. Whereas the boys would be on the road for the next few hours still as they made the longer but less risky journey to Virginia by road, Emily and JJ had brought the jet to Jacksonville, on the assumption that Horatio would already be aware of Calleigh and Alexx running. They would land in Virginia two hours before the boys made it, meaning Alexx could get into surgery and update whoever she needed to on Ryan's condition before they got there.

Calleigh could have cried in relief when the turned into the rest-stop only to be met by two women. She felt herself being steadied as the dark haired woman tended to Alexx and the blonde; who had caught her apparently started to demand answers. She felt sick. The reality of what they were doing was starting to sink in, and when Alexx called for her bag she was grateful for something to do.

"Calleigh isn't it?" The woman asked as 'Emily' continued to treat Alexx, swearing up a storm at the state of her leg. She nodded, not trusting her voice, and the woman's expression softened. "I'm Jennifer." She said with an almost smile. "Or JJ if you prefer." Calleigh nodded again feeling weary down to her bones. She was given another almost smile before JJ handed her a cup of coffee. "It's not great but it will get you through until we get on the jet. Emily will be right behind us with Alexx but you and I are going to set off now so we can get it ready for take off."

"But she needs a hospital…"

"Sergeant Tripp and Lieutenant Stetler told us not to stop for anything until we are in Virginia. I'm sure they would have passed on a similar message to you." Emily said rather coldly from where she had started to properly dress the bullet wound. "Two more hours is going to make little difference to Alexx's condition other than give the antibiotics time to work. You need to go. Now. We'll be five minutes behind you, no more."

"Will she be okay?" Calleigh asked, looking worriedly at her friend.

"If we leave now then she should be." JJ replied, ushering her back towards the hummer and jumping into the driver's side. "Get in Calleigh, we have to go." She nodded and climbed into the passenger side, seemingly ignoring the blood that had been soaking the seat, to the great concern of JJ.

* * *

 **So yeah... Speed seems to have kinda lost it, Alexx is in a bad way and Horatio is still at large... I'm afraid its all downhill from here guys. Please let me know your thoughts on how this fic is developing.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Last chapter for a couple of weeks whilst I get the others proof read and catch up on the next batch of chapters. Again, warnings for this chapter, but you guys will be used to that now. Please let me know what you think, Kiad.**

* * *

From The Russians With Love

Chapter 13

 **Route 95 - Georgia**

He'd only managed to keep the peace for another hour before Speed had once again verbally ripped into Eric. Accusations of the rape and attempted murder of Ryan were now peppered with racist insults about his Russian ancestry and Eric seemed to grow evermore distraught with every passing second. By the end of the hour he gave up and signalled to pull off to the side of the freeway. He ensured Speed wouldn't be able to follow him out of the hummer by locking the doors to passengers in the back seat, before getting out of the hummer and opening Eric's door. The Cuban got up without a word and allowed himself to be lead towards the second hummer. Speed continued to shout insults through the now open window and Derek felt a pang of sorrow for Eric who seemed to take them all upon his shoulders. He let Dave know what was happening before jumping back into his own hummer, following his colleague as he led off.

"I hope you're happy with yourself." He snapped at Speed after rolling his window up and locking off the controls. "Never in all the many years I have known you have I been so disgusted with your behaviour. There was no need for any of what you have just said, and I hope beyond hope that Dave can prevent Eric from having a complete meltdown."

"He deserved it." Speed muttered, crossing his arms and starting to kick the back of the front passenger seat like a child.

"Did he? Or are you just mad at him?"

"It was his job to protect Ryan."

"That's funny because I could have sworn it was Horatio's." Derek replied, earning a growl from the other male. "Now look man, I can quite easily understand you being upset over what has happened with Ryan, believe me we all are, but you need to stop with the anger and the accusations against Eric, or you might find yourself a lot lonelier than you have been the past week."

"I'm going to lose my husband." Speed whispered. "None of you will matter after that. I won't have anything left to lose."

"For a start, you aren't going to lose Ryan." He said, more sure than he felt. "And second, you might just be surprised at how how much we matter when you need us. If you don't have anything good to say to Eric then don't say anything to him at all. You've already put him through enough." Speed fell silent after that and he hoped that his words had registered somewhat with Ryan's husband, for all their sakes.

 **Same Location - Georgia**

"Do you wish to talk about it?" He asked quietly, an hour later when Eric had seemed to have calmed slightly.

"He's mad at me." The younger man whispered. "There is nothing to discuss." There was silence again for a few minutes more before Eric's whispered "I'm not a rapist" almost escaped his hearing.

"I never once for a second thought you were." He replied honestly, softly, and he was hoping soothingly. "Tim can be so very mean when he wants to be. Am I to take it he has suffered in his absence?" Eric choked out a painfully bitter laugh that almost turned into a sob.

"He wears a brand." He whispered, repeating what Calleigh had told him. He thought back to the incident in their home and a fresh set of tears started to escape his eyes. "He was sold as a sex slave to be beaten, drugged and raped. I let that happen. To my _brother_ , my best friend, I'm not a rapist but I might as well be. Guilty by my inactions."

"Eric you couldn't have possibly known that Tim was still alive, never mind going through what he was." Dave replied softly, fear settling in his gut for the Cuban's mental well being.

"What about what I've let Ryan go through?" He spat suddenly angry and Dave winced when he heard said man's breath hitch in the back seats. He glanced behind him and swore when he saw Ryan's eyebrows furrow and his body twitch. Eric seemed to realise what he had done because he went shock still before grabbing the box of meds off the dash, unplugging his belt and hurriedly climbing into the back. Dave watched as he squeezed another syringe of sedatives into Ryan's IV before climbing back through to the front seat. He just about got the box back onto the dash and his belt back on before a new wave of despair hit him and he cried himself to sleep within half an hour. It was becoming obvious that no matter which way the situation went with Ryan, their extended family was breaking apart. He just hoped that Alexx had enough strength to help him and Hotch glue it back together.

 **Jacksonville Airport - Jacksonville**

"How is she?" Calleigh asked as Emily collapsed into a seat in front of where her and JJ were sitting.

"It's bad." Emily replied, though looking more at her colleague than Calleigh. "I can't tell whether the bone has been chipped yet but I suspect that's the case. She's going to need surgery. The only good thing about the situation is that it didn't go in half an inch to the left. The Femoral artery is in-tact but we could have been looking at a whole different story."

"Will she make it until we land?" JJ asked.

"As long as there is an ambulance waiting on the strip. We just have to pray that there won't be any complications until then. I'll go and phone Hotch, let him know the situation." JJ nodded as Emily got up and made her way back towards the rear of the jet, Calleigh looking on with fearful eyes.

"If she doesn't make it I don't know what I'll do." She whispered. "I don't know what any of us will do. Ryan can't lose anything or anyone else, not after what we've let happen to him. He needs his Godmother." A choked sob left her throat and she pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to stem the flow of tears making it's way down her cheeks. She felt JJ start to rub her back, the woman seemingly not having much to say on the situation. She didn't blame her, she hated herself for what had happened to the young man they should have been protecting, there wasn't any doubt in her mind that she would find little sympathy here.


End file.
